The budget is a hostage to automatic mechanisms, said the BIA Vice President Stanislav Popdonchev in an interview for BNR.
According to employers, the biggest problem in the budget lies in the revenues that must be extracted from businesses.
"Dialogue has been restored to the extent that what we demanded since mid-September finally happened - a discussion began not only on the parameters but also on the budget itself with the employer organizations. What we still cannot reach, however, is an outcome from this dialogue, because there are a number of constraints," he emphasized, explaining:
"The first is that the deficit cannot be changed - it must remain at 3%. It is already quite high, and we do not wish to increase it. The second constraint is that expenditures cannot be reduced. And outside of wage and operating costs, there are practically no buffers. There is no source from which we can cut the 1.1 billion leva we want to avoid being additionally extracted from businesses and citizens in the form of increased pension fund contributions, the higher maximum insurance threshold, and the dividend tax. If we do not raise these taxes, we would have to consider which other ones to raise - which is entirely impossible."
Speaking on the programme “Before All”, Popdonchev reminded that employer organizations support maintaining the tax and social security model.
"There is no way to expect business to propose raising other taxes. And when it comes to cutting expenditures, it turns out the coalition simply lacks the political will," he said firmly.
Regarding the risks associated with the budget, the BIA Vice President stated:
"This is already the third or fourth such budget. If we have one more like this, the Romanian scenario may become inevitable. We cannot continue this way."
He believes that with sufficient political will and work in the National Assembly, there would be enough time to introduce changes to the texts. Popdonchev, however, does not see such readiness at this stage.
The Association insists on reducing the unfilled positions in the state administration. According to him, there are around 15,000 such posts.
"By our estimates, at least 5,000 could be cut," Popdonchev noted. In his view, the real issue is establishing a clear policy for reducing the administration - something he does not believe will happen with this budget.
Discussions will continue next Thursday in the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation, the BIA Vice President said, expressing hope that the budget procedure will be completed soon.
